by Ira Tabankin
“What do you need from me?”
“I have a pill for each of you. It’s going to make you sick, I’m sorry, but you’re going to get very sick. You won’t really be harmed. I’m sorry for the unpleasant side effects; it will enable me to have you removed to a regular hospital. Once outside of the shelter, I have people waiting for us. They’ll bring you home. Will you and Linda take the pills?”
“Will it hurt?”
“It’s going to give you a high fever and make you sick to your stomach. It works very quickly, I’m sorry, but it has to look serious enough for me to get you out of here.”
“Okay, we’ll do it. How long until it takes effect?”
“Only a minute or two. It’s very strong. The good news is; it will wear off in an hour. Tell me when you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.” Sammi motions Linda to her side; she leans over whispering so only Linda can hear her. “Linda, come to Mommy. I want you to take this pill. It’s going to make us sick, when it does this doctor is going to take us out of here. He’s going to take us to Papa. It’s our secret. Can you keep the secret for Papa Jay and me?”
“Of course, I’m not a little kid. Will it hurt?”
“It’s going to make you throw up.”
“I hate that. But if it means we can go home, let me have it. I hate it here.”
“Good girl, Papa Jay is going to be very proud of you.”
Linda smiles swallowing the pill. “I want Papa Jay to be proud of me.”
“He will be very proud of you. He’ll smother with you with hugs and kisses.”
“Control, this is Major General Brown; you can turn the cameras on again. I’m concerned about the condition of my patients. Please ask the facility nurse to join me, condition urgent, patients appear to be ill. Repeat, their condition is urgent.”
“Is this a level one emergency?”
Sammi and Linda run out to the lady’s room where they begin throwing up.
“Yes! Both are very ill. It’s a good thing I showed up when I did. Why weren’t these two constantly being checked by your medical director? The President is going to be very upset with everyone associated with this program.”
An alarm sounds in the shelter, “Medical emergency, medical emergency, VIP level, room 2A. Medical emergency, room 2A.”
The facility nurse arrives panting, “Doctor what can I do?”
“Both of the patients are in the lady’s room. They’re very ill. They both have a high fever and are sick to their stomach. I think they’ve been poisoned. I want to take them to the regional hospital where we have a military section that specializes in biowarfare. It’s the assigned hospital to this center. We have to hurry; we don’t know what they’ve been exposed to. We also have to assume whatever they’ve been exposed to could be spreading through the facility. Control, Major General Brown, seal the facility, we are going to move the patients to the regional hospital. This facility may have been exposed to a bioweapon. Commence Chemical Biological Warfare protocol level one!”
“Oh my God, biowarfare? I’ll contact DHS HQ.”
“We don’t have time for their review, under my authority, get everyone into their protective suits! Sound the bio war alarm! Hurry, we’re running out of time. If it spreads through the facility, everyone could die. Where are the protective suits on this level?”
“The guards outside know.”
“Thank you.”
Opening the door, Frank yells,
“We have a CBW event, we need MOPP 4 suits, can you get them for us?”
“Yes, sir, we’re on it.” One of the guards runs to a supply locker, he pulls out three prepackaged suits,
“General, here’s yours, we’re putting ours on. What level is this?”
“MOPP 4!”
“Yes, sir.”
Putting on their suits, the guards seal their helmets, the suits are bulky and very uncomfortable.
Five minutes later the nurse returns wearing a bright orange suit, her face can be seen through the clear face plate, she’s pale, she knows what losing the two southerners will mean to her career, she shakes her head. She’s shaking with fear knowing what could happen if a bioagent is spreading through the shelter.
“Doctor, you’re correct. They’re both very ill. I agree you should take them to the regional hospital. We’re not prepared for such cases. Security is on the way, the halls are being cleared, the ventilation system is being switched to over pressure to keep whatever it is in this area. I’ll get some staff to move them to the ambulance. Doctor, does the ambulance staff have protective suits?”
“Thank you. Everyone has a suit, I’ve already sent a message for a military ambulance and MP guards. They should be outside when we get there. Everyone on my side is prepared; I wish the team here would have been more alert. I want security to check all the records to see who’s been with the patients.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Excellent. The President will be very upset if these two die, he will be even angrier if this facility is contaminated by something. If he finds out they got seriously ill or someone tried to kill them while in your care, he’ll fire you, or do worse. If you lose this shelter, where will Congress go if conditions with the South move to a full-fledged war? As soon as I leave, I want a decontamination team to begin clearing the entire shelter.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it.”
“Thank you so very much. You’ll need to have every inch of the shelter checked.”
“Yes, sir. General, my God, the President was here yesterday, I wonder if someone tried to kill him and their timing was off. My God, do you think the two southerners tried to kill the President? Or someone with the President tried to kill them?”
“I don’t know yet. I think it’s best that anyone who had direct contact with the two southerners be placed in quarantine. We can’t afford whatever this is to spread. If the two southerners die while in our care, well, I’m sure you understand the President has a temper, it could also cause a major war, the South may decide to attack this facility. I have to contact the President’s medical staff and have them check him. Do you think he’s going to be happy when he discovers what happened here?”
“I’ll do anything I can to assist you. I don’t want to be part of the cause for a new Civil War, or worse.”
A shielded Humvee ambulance backs up to Mount Weather’s main door, the halls are cleared of everyone so Doctor Brown and the nurse with help from four fully MOPP suited DHS guards can quickly wheel Sammi and Linda on mobile stretchers to the ambulance. No one notices the small aerosol spray bottle under the mobile stretcher spraying the halls of the facility with the same bug Frank gave Sammi and Linda. The chemical alarms sound in the facility scaring all of the staff. Once the southerners are in the ambulance, the siren is switched on. Four LAVs merge with the ambulance as they quickly drive away from Mount Weather. Doctor Brown hands Sammi two blue pills,
“Each of you swallow one, you’ll feel better within a couple of minutes.”
“Thank God, that was horrible.”
“You’re safe now. We’ll be home before you know it.”
“What about the army escorting us?”
“They’re my people. We have a cargo plane waiting for us. We’re going to drive right into the plane which will take us directly to your father’s home.”
“We have an airport now?”
“Not really, the military has been preparing a temporary landing strip for us. We’re going to be escorted by fighters as soon as we cross the border. The entire trip will only take us an hour.”
“I don’t know how to thank you for saving us.” Swallowing the blue pill, Sammi says, “I never thought I’d want to swallow the blue pill and remain in the Matrix.”
“I’m sure your father will be very happy. Just relax and let the pill do its work. It will quickly settle your stomach. You’ll be sleeping in your own bed tonight. You’re out of the Matrix now.”
“What about my husband?”
&n
bsp; “My orders were to retrieve you and your daughter. If your husband was with you, take him, if he wasn’t, I wasn’t to waste time looking for him. If I did, we might not have escaped.”
“I understand. I want to ensure Linda is safe. I’ll talk to my father about my husband when we get home.”
“That’s a very good idea. My main task was to bring you and your daughter home.”
“Can we get out of the ambulance and stretch our legs?”
“Sure, but, I’ve got to tell you, there’s not much to see, we’re inside a cargo airplane. It’s loud in the plane’s belly, and there're no windows. Go ahead and stretch your legs. We’ll be home before you know it.”
“What’s going to happen when they realize we’re not at the hospital?”
Frank smiles shaking his head, “I’m sure their President will be pissed. I left them a little present, when we pushed you out of the facility, I sprayed the contents of the red pill in their shelter, I think there’s a number of their staff who wish they could die. It’ll take them a couple of days to figure out what the agent is. They’re going to be miserable until the CDC gets them a supply of the blue pills.”
“Good. I don’t feel sorry for them. I don’t like them or their crazy President.”
“Most people with half a brain agree with you. We’ll be home very soon; trust me, everything will be fine when you get home. Your father is going to be very happy to see you.”
“Whoever you really are, thank you very much for getting us out of there.” Said Sammi while hugging Frank.
@@@@@
An exhausted Jay covered in dirt and blood is sleeping in a chair in the cafeteria. His head is lying on his right cheek; his snoring sounds like he’s cutting wood with a chainsaw. Everyone entering and leaving the cafeteria tip-toes around him. No one wants to risk waking him. He’s been working without rest for twenty-nine hours. A cup of cold coffee and a sandwich with a single bite missing from it are sitting in front of him. Pages of emails and messages are spread out around him. The local reporter takes pictures of him sleeping on the table. The reporter, looks into the triage rooms, he records images of tags attached to the wounded showing Jay’s signature, proof that he bandaged them. Each wounded is tagged with a note signed by the person who cared for them so the medical staff can follow up with the person who performed the initial triage which helps the medical staff follow up if they need more information. The different tag colors represent the seriousness of their injuries.
Most of the injured keep the tags signed by Jay showing them off with pride, they brag to others that Jay personally attended to them. The tags are covered with blood-stained fingerprints, most people can tell when Jay treated them, his signature got sloppier as the long hours of tending to the many wounded wore on. After twenty hours, he only wrote his initials on the tags. The bloody fingerprints show how he was holding the tags when he signed them. Many of the wounded tell the reporter stories of the kind words Jay spoke to them. He remembered the names of their families, he asked how each family member was. He went out of his way to find their families in the shelter or outside, bringing them to the wounded. He brought the wounded water and sandwiches. Seven times his staff tried to get him to clean up and address the nation, each time he shook his head saying,
“There will be time to address the nation after the wounded are cared for. Issue a statement saying I’m safe and tending to our wounded. I’ll address the people first thing tomorrow. By then we should have enough details to discuss the situation without panicking anyone.”
“Sir…”
“Go away; you’re getting in my way. If you’re going to stay, help the wounded, these people need our help.”
The reporter posts the pictures on the web showing their exhausted President treating his people. The reporter writes an article comparing Jay to the North’s President. He writes how Jay is a man of the people. When Jay is faced with a crisis, he rushes to the scene of the problem. He doesn't shy away from the hard work of helping his wounded citizens. He runs towards the sound of gunfire, not away from it. His first concern is the safety of his friends and neighbors, not appearing before the cameras lying about his concern for the people. The article quoted the words between Jay and General Arthur when Jay told the general he’d fire him if he pulled him away from the bombing site. The reporter writes, “This is the man we’ve been waiting for to lead us. He’s a man like the rest of us, he’s not one of the political elites, he has money, but he spends it protecting his family and friends. He offered to pay out of his own pocket to help the North repair their grid which a lightning strike took down. He eats in the same cafeteria, the same food as everyone else; he worked to save the wounded without finding out about the condition of his wife for more than twenty hours. All of this while the North holds his oldest daughter and granddaughter hostage.”
Petitions for Jay’s election to President fly around the Confederacy, the majority of the South’s media support the call for his immediate election, their only objections are questions about why he refuses to hold press conferences and his language which can at times be very crude and rude. He speaks his mind, no matter who it may offend. On the other hand, the people like that he speaks his mind and speaks in the same manner they do. Most feel he’s one of them, not an elite or power broker only concerned about how he can game ‘the system’ for his own benefit.
Shortly after the reporter posts the follow-up pictures about the attack and Jay, Fred releases the names and positions of the people killed and wounded in the attack. Along with the list are pictures of the site and images of the bomb fragments. A piece of the one of the tail fins is shown, it’s clearly marked with a USA part number, proving to most people in the Confederacy, the North tried to assassinate their President.
The Confederate media calls for a new Civil War to settle the situation with the North once and for all, the majority of people in the Confederacy are angry with the attempted assassination of their President, Jay sleeps through the thousands of posts. He’s woken by a soft hand on his left shoulder. He looks up seeing Wendy leaning over him.
“Jay, Jay, it’s time to wake up. Lacy’s up, she’s asking for you.”
“I’m coming, how is she?”
“She’s in pretty good shape Jay, Doctor Basco wants to talk with you before you see her.”
Jay stops mid-step; he turns around to look into Wendy’s one unbandaged eye. “What’s wrong with her? What are you trying to prepare me for? What aren’t you telling me?”
“It’s better if the doctor talks with you.”
Jay guides Wendy to a small supply room, “Wendy, tell me. I’m tired, I’m angry at the asshole in the White House, I held Fred when he had to identify his family’s bodies. He lost his wife of forty years and his two sons. I can’t remember when I last slept in a bed, I’m not in a very good mood, please don’t make me wait. What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s been wounded…”
“I know that, what else?”
“Jay, she’s lost one eye, and partial use of her left arm. There was shrapnel in her arm and head. She has a large scar on her head which goes from the top of her head down her cheek.”
“I see, please show me to her.”
“She’s in the hospital, the same room you were in.”
“I’m going to see her; tell the doctor he can find me with her.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Wendy, we’ve been through too much together, you helped patch me up a few times, don’t call me sir.”
She nods asking,
“Do you need anything else from me?”
“Yes, I need you to take a nap, you look like you’re going to collapse. We need you.”
“Don’t worry, we’re getting some help, there are medical staff from all over on their way here, when they arrive, we’ll all take a break.”
“Wendy, you better. I wouldn’t want a stranger trying to force medication into me.”
She laughs,
&
nbsp; “Go to her. She’s waiting for you. Jay, she’s got a lot of drugs in her system, cut her a break for anything she might say to you. I doubt she’ll remember tomorrow she even saw you today.”
“I understand. Thank you.”
Jay quietly steps into Lacy’s room. Her left arm and shoulder are in a cast which is being held out in a brace hanging from a rod above her. The left side of her face is wrapped in blood-stained gauze.
Jay whispers, moving a stray hair from her face. “Hi beautiful, got a minute for me?”
“Jay! I’m sorry.” Lacy weakly whispers.
“You should be. This is supposed to be my bed. Where am I going to lay when I’m wounded? You’re in my private room. If you haven't noticed, the bed isn’t large enough for us to share.”
